Reader shares recipe, but what was this restaurant where it came from?

Pat S., who now lives in Texas, grew up in New Orleans and has shared a "cherished recipe for Artichoke and Oyster Soup I got about 40 years ago by batting my eyelashes at the chef." It took her about 20 visits to work up the nerve, she writes. "I still can't believe he gave it to me."

She can't remember the name of the restaurant, though, and she hopes you readers can help. She thinks the name began with an "S, " and it was in a one-story, ramshackle building on a corner at Canal Street and Claiborne Avenue.

(If it helps, she remembers that the other corners were occupied by a Ford dealership, a hotel and an office tower containing Graham Energy.)

"I hope you enjoy this wonderful soup recipe, and can track down the name of the restaurant it came from. Other New Orleans restaurants tended to have a milk or cream soup base for their Artichoke and Oyster Soup, and they added the quartered artichoke hearts and pieces of oyster after the soup base was cooked. This restaurant basically had a wonderfully flavorful artichoke base, and it quickly became my favorite soup.

"My friends and family rave whenever I prepare it for them. I'm so glad you are trying to build a database of authentic New Orleans recipes, and I'm happy to contribute this little bit of my beloved home city's culinary history."

Artichoke and Oyster Soup

Makes about 12 cups

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter

3 (14-ounce) cans artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

3 bunches green onions, chopped

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 (14-ounce) cans chicken broth

1 pint raw oysters with their liquor

Juice of one lemon

In a soup pot, melt the butter and sauté the chopped artichoke hearts and green onions over medium heat for about 3 to 5 minutes, until the green onions soften. Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon to coat the vegetables. Slowly add the chicken broth, one can at a time, stirring slowly to make sure there are no lumps. Cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a separate skillet, poach the oysters in their liquor until they are cooked through, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and chop oysters into bite-size pieces. Strain the oyster liquor and reserve.

Purée the soup roughly in a blender or food processor. (It will take about four batches to purée all the soup.) Add the chopped oysters to the puréed soup, with about 2 to 3 tablespoons of the strained oyster liquor and the lemon juice. The more oyster liquor you add, the stronger the oyster flavor. (Over the years, I have started making it without oyster liquor, just the chopped oysters added after puréeing the soup. I found that the oyster liquor had a tendency to muddy the light, crisp flavor of the soup.)

The flavor improves with a day of refrigeration after cooking.

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WHAT TOOL MAKES IT EASIER TO LIQUEFY SOUP? "I got an immersion blender for Christmas, " writes B. "In all honesty, I'm not a fan of small electric kitchen appliances. Someone once gave me a rice cooker, and it sat, unused, on the counter for a couple years or more. (I've lived in New Orleans 11 years now. I know how to cook rice!) But the immersion blender is a great thing.

"It saves transferring stuff around multiple pots, and cleaning the blender. And the food processor cannot handle much liquid at a time. Hot liquids in the blender require some added caution, too. I used it with this soup for the first time New Year's Eve, and it worked like a dream!

"I used some broccoli stems I had accumulated over holiday cooking. I had used the florets from two heads. ... I felt like a frugal soul doing it, and the soup was fantastic."

I share B.'s enthusiasm for the immersion blender, or stick blender as it also is called. (One of my "In Judy's Kitchen" videos on the subject is on NOLA.com if you've never seen one in action.) It's so simple to just plunge it into the pot of soup and start liquefying. If you've ever had the top of a blender fly off while puréeing hot soup, you can appreciate how nifty this is.

And my cupboards are stuffed, so it's not easy for me to adopt a new kitchen appliance, either. Just saying.

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Makes 4 to 6 servings

1-1/2 pounds broccoli, stems or otherwise

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup chopped yellow onion

1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper

1-1/2 tablespoons flour

4 cups chicken stock

1 bay leaf

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1/2 teaspoon ground thyme

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Pinch of nutmeg

3 egg yolks (optional)

1 cup milk

Sauté broccoli pieces in a large saucepan or soup pot in the butter and olive oil with onion and bell pepper until the onion is transparent.

Sprinkle flour over the sautéed vegetables, then cook and stir for a minute or so.

Add chicken stock, bay leaf, parsley, thyme, salt, pepper and nutmeg to the pot. Bring to a simmer, stirring often, then partially cover and cook at a low simmer for 30 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf. With an immersion blender, purée the soup. Or purée the mixture in a blender, in batches, and return it to the pot.

Beat the yolks (if using) in a small bowl, then whisk in the milk. Close to serving time, scoop a couple of ladles of the hot soup into the yolk mixture and whisk to incorporate. Then whisk the new yolk mixture into the soup and slowly bring back up to a simmer, stirring occasionally.

If not using egg yolks, add milk to the puréed soup and heat briefly before serving.

Serve with shredded cheddar cheese or minced bacon bits if desired.

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GOLD BRICKS REDUX: Last week, after Michelle asked for a recipe for creamy Gold Brick fudge, we printed a recipe for making it from scratch. Then the real thing surfaced, as happens.

There is indeed such a fudge made of Gold Brick Eggs, the candy from Elmer's, and the recipe for it was published in 2002 after it was shared by creator Lenny Lisotta.

Thanks to Andrea, Sharon, Bill and a couple of others who still had the recipe and were kind enough to share.

"After Easter, this recipe was used for any uneaten Gold Bricks, " John writes from Mandeville. "Additionally, the chocolate bunnies were placed in a double boiler, pecans added and cooled, making homemade Gold Bricks."

Gold Brick Fudge

Makes one 9-inch square pan

18 Gold Brick Eggs (unwrapped)

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (regular or fat free)

Optional: A cup or so of chopped pecans

Melt the chocolate eggs in the top of a double boiler until creamy, stirring occasionally. Add milk, and quickly stir to blend well. Stir in nuts, if using. Promptly pour into a 9-inch square pan. Let candy harden until firm, about 8 hours at cool room temperature, or about 2 hours if refrigerated, before cutting into small squares for serving. Store at cool room temperature or in the freezer.